Saturday, June 13, 2009

"When You Are Up To Your neck In Hot Water-What do Your Do?"

Carrots, Eggs, & Coffee Beans
By: Author Unknown

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her
life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know
how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was
tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem
was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots
with water. In the first she placed carrots; in the second
she placed eggs; and in the last ground coffee beans. She
let them sit and boil without saying a word. In about
twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the
carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs
out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee
out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you
see?"

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots.
The daughter did and noted that they were soft. She then
asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off
the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she
asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she
tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What's the
point, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced
the same adversity - boiling water - but each reacted
differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and
unrelenting. However after being subjected to the boiling
water, it softened and became weak.

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had
protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through
the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they
were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity
knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot,
an egg, or a coffee bean?"

Think of this: Which am I? With pain and adversity, do I
wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg
that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the
heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a
breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I
become hardened and stiff?

Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter
and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart? Or am I
like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot
water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the
water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor.

If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst
you get better and change the situation around you. When
the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest, do
you elevate to another level? How do you handle Adversity?

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